November 2018: Gibraltar Heritage Trust: Group Heritage Award was awarded to "Plata Villa" residential apartment development.

The second Group Heritage Award is awarded to Plata Villa, for the building previously known as Old St Joseph’s School, Witham’s Road. Originally a private home and then an orphanage, before becoming a school, this school building is of special importance as when Gibraltarian evacuees started to return to Gibraltar in 1944 it was opened especially to school those children returning to the Rock. An anecdote from this time is that in 1944 due to lack of supplies it is reported that teachers (who were from the RAF) used the backs of doors as black boards and there was a desperate need for text books. In 1945 the Christian Brothers took over the school and later the school structure changed with the arrival of the Loreto Nuns. The project has seen the demolition of later accretions to the building and the retention of its original form, the restoration of original ironwork, cleaning of stonework, a new pantiled roof and reinstallation of original Gibraltar vernacular features The building has been subdivided into 4 private flats and form the heart of the wider Plata Villa development. The Award will be accepted by the developers and contractors REAFINA Ltd.

JOR Designs were the Architects for this fantastic development